The Racer Who Remembered
by LordGodsServant
Summary: All Sour Bill wanted was for Vanellope to have a friend. Someone to make her life as a glitch just a bit more bearable. And it couldn't be him, not by a long shot. One of the Racers would have to do. Vanellope and Candlehead Friendship. No romance! SPOILERS!
1. Prologue

**Love this movie. Just think of this as a fun little experiment of mine. **

**But seriously, this fanfic will contain spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it. It's awesome.**

**This little plot bunny sprouted from a background character who really didn't even have a main line to one of the main character, funny thing isn't it.**

XXX

Sour Bill really shouldn't be doing this. He'd seen King Candy go back into the code several times, only Sour Bill was allowed to know because King Candy wanted to play it safe and had a lifeline plus Sour Bill to hold the line. Beyond that, Candy didn't even acknowledge the room's existence, implying that it was a secret reserved for the leaders of the games. Sour Bill had no problem in keeping it a secret. Contrary to his rather, well, _sour_ attitude he did like his job and saw no need to go around blabbing about the most integral part of their game.

But then again, he always wondered what King Candy did back in there, even more so when he realized that he couldn't actually remember anything about their resident glitch Vanellope. Sure, she was a glitch, but at least he of all people should know what error in the program created her.

That was why he was currently tying a rope around his body (not a particularly easy thing to do considering he didn't have anything for it to catch on like arms and legs) and peering out into the web of lines and wires that comprised the lifeblood of his game.

After making sure that the rope was tight enough where it wouldn't slip off him (he wasn't sure if he could swim back to the entrance or something like that, best to play it safe) he struck off into the tangled wires.

On the way he passed his own little box representing his part of the program. It was just as it should be, little wires connecting it to everything else. Then he came to King Candy's box, the biggest as was natural, he was the boss of the game. He sighted the wire that he needed and followed it, careful to avoid hitting any of the boxes thereby possibly upsetting their position. He finally came to the origin and was intrigued by what he saw. Two box's, one representing the main character's memory, and the other just everyone else's memory, both were locked up tight in very tight chests.

That was odd, the chests still allowed the acquisition of memories (by that he meant that they could still function and remember most things like normal people) it seemed to be just blocking several large memories.

After studying the chests a bit more he moved on. He wasn't very worried about King Candy barging in on him, right now the nightly races were going on and King Candy never missed one of those. He always took the opportunity to get on the roster; very rarely did he not at least make it into the day roster.

He had to look around awhile before he finally spotted what he was looking for. It surprised him but it was there, Vanellope's box. He'd been expecting . . . well, he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, corrupted text, a black sickly version of a racer's box, or even just something that showed her as a glitch.

But here right in front of him was a box, same as any other racer's box that had the name of Vanellope Von Schweetz. That was to say it looked identical, the box wasn't actually connected in anywhere, another odd thing. Glitches usually latched onto the central processes, this box looked like any connection it had had been deliberately ripped out and then the box had been flung out into the space beyond the web of code and boxes that was his game at its most basic form.

Did King Candy do this?

Sour Bill was no simpleton and it was obvious that Vanellope was meant to be a racer of some sort, perhaps a bonus character or . . . Bill's eyes suddenly widened as a thought occurred, that glitching she did, was that some sort of dummied out special ability that simply had a hard time working properly because it had been cut off from its source.

Really it was a miracle that she was still functional after she'd been ripped out of the network.

He grimaced, telling himself to stop thinking like that; King Candy must've had a good reason if he even did it. But even as he thought this, a little bit of pity wormed its way into his soury heart. He really never interacted with Vanellope but part of that was so he never would have to choose whether or not to go along with the treatment she got. He never tried to think about it, but part of him always felt uncomfortable whenever they chased her away from the races. And now he felt even more uncomfortable when he realized that, by all rights, she should be allowed to race.

Why oh why couldn't he remember her racing?

Aha, the stupid boxes that had everyone's memories locked up. He drifted back to it and noticed something he'd missed before. Several wires were leaking out of it, they didn't connect to anything but they were still there.

Back to Vanellope's and he felt his feelings of pity come back, she seemed so lonely.

Now he had a choice, should he connect a line, he had a few extra. Even if he did, who should he connect it to?

King Candy, ha, that was a truly stupid idea, if King Candy ever knew Sour Bill been back here he might be sent to the fundgeon.

Himself?

Nooooooooooo sir.

Much as he hated to admit it, Sour Bill wasn't that brave a guy, he caved easily under pressure and would never be the sort of friend that Vanellope needed, he was too close to King Candy.

Taffyta, no way. She might be better than him, but not by much. She was the most preferred racer besides King Candy and was the closest thing he had to a sort of deputy among the racers.

It couldn't be one of the normal citizens, their memories were locked up tight, no cracks at all. He suspected that the only reason the racer's memories had cracks was because they were all such major characters and some of them were so strong willed.

He couldn't connect Vanellope, too risky. That girl had a strong tendency to stick her nose where it wasn't welcome and could be a bit of a blabbermouth. Besides, if she went around blabbing about her being a great racer, not just wanting to be a good racer, it might end up ostracizing her even more so than she was now.

Sour bill drifted back to the memory chest and grabbed one of the lines. He sure hoped he knew what he was doing, if this blew up in his face or if King Candy somehow found out what he was about to do . . .

The sour candy shuddered, drop the cord and looked ready to leave the room, then he saw Vanellope's box drifting off in the distance, all alone, in the dark edges of the room.

The candy sighed and retrieved the cord again. Then he headed to the racer's roster. Taking care to avoid Taffyta's profile he closed his eyes, unable to choose one, and let the wire drift in their direction.

He heard a small sizzle and a snap and when he opened his eyes he saw that the wire had fused with the box of Candlehead, a rather unique racer.

Before he left the room, Sour Bill took an extra wire, a rather thin and extremely hard to see one (so thin that you could only see it if you were actually looking for it) and connected Candlehead's and Vanellope's boxes. Just as a little added bonus in case they ever needed the extra connection.

As he left the room, he cleared out all the evidence that he was ever there. He really hoped he wouldn't get caught for this. Then he started cleaning the throne room like always, but this time he actually looked forward to hearing if anything interesting had happened during the race.

XXX

Candlehead was on fire. She'd already eliminated two of the competition and was gaining on the leaders. King Candy and Taffyta were (as usual) out competing for the front of the race, but this time Candlehead was determined to win.

They were playing a racetrack called "Skittle Skiing." The catch was that any crashing or weapons used in certain parts of the map (like the part she was on now) would result in an avalanche of Skittles that was extremely hard to dodge, resulting in a lot of time wasted respawning.

She was in third place and just about to pass up Taffyta for second when suddenly her body went rigid as it felt like a switch was thrown in her brain.

"_All hail to the princess, all hail to the princess"_

Her wheels locked as they reached a turn and Candlehead didn't even remotely try to turn, the onslaught of memories pouring into her head was so intense that she couldn't even process them all.

"_C'mon you all, bet you can't even keep up with me!" said a familiar voice and Candlehead found herself responding cheekily. "Don't be so sure. Just because you can teleport doesn't mean the rest of us can't give you a run for your money."_

"_We'll see about that Candlehead."_

The front of Candlehead's vehicle smashed into the side of the curve, snapping Candlehead out of the new memories enough for her to realize that she had crashed. She heard the inevitable sound of Skittles breaking free and, sure enough, when she looked up the Skittle avalanche had started.

XXX

The race ended up where only King Candy and Taffyta made it through the deluge of Skittles without being severely held up. The rest of them ended up more or less limping over the finish line, then moving off to get their vehicles repaired or else regenerate lives.

Candlehead herself was still trying to make sense of what had happened when one of her friends "Minty Zaki" came stalking over to her.

"What happened Candlehead" Minty said in annoyance. "You had the perfect opportunity for being the number one racer and you crashed!? You just froze up and crashed? Are you feeling alright, did Vanellope mess with your vehicle?!"

"_If only I knew."_ She thought to herself.

"You know what" she said "I think I'm feeling a bit tired. I might grab a couple Z's tonight to you know, try and win tomorrow night."

Minty still looked a little suspicious but then smiled and said "okay, just make sure to practice that curve, I never really liked Skittles that much."

"Will do madam Zaki" Candlehead said in an overdramatic tone as she threw a mock salute. Then she turned around and hurried off, sleep the furthest thing from her mind.

She needed to see a certain glitch.

XXX

**This is just a little experiment for me. Hope you like it I just wonder how it would've been if at least one of the racers was a little nicer to Vanellope.**


	2. Meetings: The Glitch and the Racer

**To clear up any confusion, this is before the movie.**

XXX

This was tougher than she thought it would be. Candlehead had thought that it would be a cinch to find Vanellope, but that assumption was quickly being proven to be wishful thinking. She looked all the obvious places where they encountered the glitch poking around, the start/finish line, the factory, even around the palace. She wasn't at any of the above.

As she sat thinking about what to do next, she also tried to sort through what had happened to her some more. She could remember a few basic things, but it felt like the memories had a very faulty connection, maybe they did for all she knew. But what she did know is that most if not all of what she could make out centered around their resident glitch.

She didn't have full memories so much as she had sensations. She remembered something about a princess, also (most jarringly) one of the memories was a deep-seated respect for Vanellope, and another was the only clear image she could get was Vanellope driving a racecar. Not a jury-rigged 2nd rate piece of trash mind you, but a real top of the line 1st class racecar. The racecar also looked strangely familiar but she just couldn't place it. It was all so confusing.

She was just about to give up and actually go to catch some shut-eye when she heard what sounded like a shrill cry of frustration. Candlehead, recognizing the voice, sped off in the direction of the shout.

After speeding for a while along the side of the Caramel Canyon, which played host to a racetrack for part of its terrain, Candlehead finally stopped and got out of her racecar. She peered over the side of the canyon and, in a small crevasse that opened into a secluded part of the canyon, she saw the object of her mission.

Vanellope was currently working on some sort of object, made up of various parts that looked like they'd been stolen from the factory. With a small bit of surprise, Candlehead realized that she was working on a racecar. The racecar itself was obviously a work in progress; it was missing crucial parts to make even a pedal-powered engine. Vanellope herself was currently trying to install a wheel, the only wheel on it actually, but was obviously having a hard time.

The glitch strained as she tried to screw the wheel into place. Then she lost her grip and went flying back into the canyon wall. Candlehead snickered a bit, then covered her mouth as Vanellope heard her.

The glitch's gaze flicked up and caught sight of Candlehead watching her from the top of the canyon. Not quite sure what to do, Candlehead raised her arm and gave a slight wave. Vanellope's eyes narrowed and she quickly began to gather up the parts lying around to put away. After she was done, she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Candlehead found herself saying, then she slid down the slope towards Vanellope and landed in on the canyon floor.

The glitch turned to face the racer. "What do you want?!" Vanellope said in an aggressive voice.

"Uhhhh." Now that she'd found the glitch, Candlehead really didn't know what to say. What, was she supposed to say that she suddenly had visions and feelings about the glitch, Vanellope would think she was crazy. Not that she cared what the glitch thought mind you, she was just afraid that the glitch would go blabbering about how Candlehead was just as insane as she was.

"I was uhhh, wondering if we could, ummmm, talk?"

Vanellope's mouth fell open as an incredulous look crossed her face. She was looking at Candlehead as if the racer had taken complete leave of her senses.

"Let me get this straight, you, the racer near the top of the social food chain, want to talk to me, the glitch sitting right at the bottom of the social food chain."

"Uh, yeah why wouldn't I?" As soon as she'd said this, Candlehead slapped her hand over her mouth as she remembered all the times Vanellope had been chased off by the racers and everyone else, including Candlehead herself.

Vanellope crossed her arms over her chest, a sarcastic look play on her face. "Just how dumb do you think I am Candlehead? What, is this another stupid little trick so you guys can embarrass me again?"

"No! I just wanted to talk."

"Yeah right, go find another chump because I'm not stupid enough to fall for it."

Vanellope turned to walk away and, as she left, blew a raspberry in Candlehead's direction. Outraged at this show of disrespect by a glitch of all people, Candlehead barked at Vanellope's retreating form. "You know what, fine! I don't care about you! Nobody cares about you! I guess it shows just how much of an idiot I am that I thought you had anymore importance than a stupid little thieving mistake!"

She scrambled back to her racecar and took off, too angry to pay much attention where she was going.

Then suddenly, she was hit with another memory.

_ The race was almost over and three cars were competing for the lead. The memory however, wasn't crystal clear, it was distorted like their high resolution gameplay was trying to mix with primitive 8bit graphics. _

_ Candlehead was in the lead, the finish line was in sight, she was going to win!_

_ Then suddenly a flash of blue appeared and suddenly there was a racer in front of them, all dressed up in white and driving a white racecar. They sped over the finish line and the roster proclaimed her as second place._

Candlehead snapped back to reality with a start. Then with horror, she realized that she was driving right through the candy cane forest. She swerved and spun, trying to avoid all the trees and branches, but then, almost to fast for her to even feel it, the car smashed right into a tree.

Due to the sudden stop in motion, Candlehead was flung out of her car and right into a small little mini canyon. She hit the ground and coughed, trying to get her bearings. She looked around and saw sand all around her that strangely seemed to be moved upwards, then her eyes caught a sign and she realized with a thrill of fear just where she was.

The sign read "Nesquik Sand."

At first she struggled to get out, but that only succeeded in making her sink faster. Finally, when she was buried up to her waste, she forced herself to calm down and then called for help, surely someone would come and get her out.

But as she continued to call, she realized that it was no use, she was a long ways away from the main areas where the characters congregated and she hadn't told anyone where she was going. She was going to sink long before a search commenced.

She wasn't afraid of dying, as in permanently, she was still inside her own game and so she couldn't die. But she would be stuck here for as long as it took anyone to fish her out.

That thought alone almost made her start hyperventilating. The thought of being trapped alone at the bottom of this crushing ooze was more than she could bear. She began to struggle again, desperate to get out. Then a voice stopped her "will you stop squirming, sheesh you know that'll only make you sink faster."

Up on top of the canyon sat none other than Vanellope Von Schweetz.

"What are you doing here?" Candlehead asked in a rather panicky voice, the sand was up to her armpits right now.

"Well, I was going to go home when I heard a kinda loud crash come from the Candy Cane forest. Who else should I find than little miss Candlehead. Quite the pickle you've got yourself in there."

"Please help me!" Candlehead shouted as she felt herself sink deeper slowly but surely.

"Wh-" Vanellope began, but she was cut off by Candlehead's pleas.

"I'm sorry for what I said, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, just please get me out of here and I'll never chase you away from a race ever again!"

Vanellope was staring down at the racer as if she didn't seem to know what to think. Then she turned and walked out of Candlhead's line of sight.

"Nooo!" Candlehead screamed in a despairing voice.

All that was left above the sand now was her head and she yelled and struggled as hard as she could, desperately trying to break the grip that the sand had on her.

Then she heard some movement and saw that Vanellope was back and in her hands was a long Laffy Taffy. She flung it into the sand and Candlehead just managed to grab it.

Vanellope fastened the other end of the Taffy around a Candy Cane branch and began pulling Candlehead out of the sand. After a lot of huffing and puffing and sweating, Candlehead was finally out of the muck.

She didn't feel very good, and sure enough, everything went black within a few seconds.

Vanellope stared at the unconscious racer that she'd just saved. Then she grimaced and slung the girl over her shoulder to carry her somewhere.

"What am I doing" she said to herself as she walked off.

She really had no idea.

XXX

**Like I said before, this is just a little flight of fancy for me. I have no idea how good this is. Please leave any questions in your reviews or PM me.**


	3. A Creamy Contest

Light slowly peeked its way into Candlehead's world as she regained consciousness. She opened her eyes and clutched her head, a slight headache plaguing her. She sat up and looked around. She was still in the Candy Cane forest, from the looks of things; she was sitting in a small shack made of candy canes.

"You know, I'm not a thief."

The statement was simple and easy to understand, but it made Candlehead whip her head around towards the noise. Vanellope was currently breaking apart pieces of candy cane and placing them against the shack to improve its structural integrity.

Candlehead didn't quite know what to make of what Vanellope had said. "Uh . . . what?"

Vanellope sniggered "boy when they say that your not one of the brightest racers they aren't kidding. Back when I was leaving you called me a thief. You know, you kind of shouted something about me being a "stupid little thieving mistake" or something like that."

"Oh yeah, then where'd you get all those parts I saw you using?!"

Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Obviously I got them out of the garbage. Seriously, if I really was a thief then I would've gotten all the parts I needed by now. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find quality parts that are thrown out. I only found that first wheel a few days ago."

Candlhead felt herself grow a bit embarrassed from her outburst. She averted her eyes and stared at the ground for a few seconds. Then her eyes flicked back up and she asked "so what is all this" as she gestured around to the shack.

Vanellope gave another sigh of exasperation.

"Boy when they say that "the rich are stupid" they aren't exaggerating. What? Did you think I spent every waking moment of my life trying to get into a race? I have needs too."

Candlehead stared at the glitch in confusion. Vanellope noticed this and asked "what?"

"I'm not rich."

Vanellope sniggered "yes you are."

"No I'm not, I don't win enough races to get that many coins."

Vanellope chuckled some more, which only served to annoy Candlehead.

Finally, Vanellope continued. "Comparatively, you are. Think about it, you're a racer so you get coins to start with. That's more than I can say." She finished with a bitter edge.

"Why should you get coins?" Candlhead asked with a bit of a mocking edge.

Vanellope looked at Candlehead angrily. If looks could kill, then Candlehead would've just defied the law of not being able to die inside your game.

"Why don't you just head on back to the factory and get your ride repaired. You'll need it after that really stupid crash you had earlier tonight."

Anger bubbled up in Candlehead's chest and she opened her mouth to defend herself, but before she could do so, Vanellope simply turned and walked away, glitching as she went.

Nothing scathing enough popped into Candlehead's brain before Vanellope was out of sight so, after taking awhile to brush all the Nesquik Sand off her body, she headed back to the factory to repair her racecar.

XXX

A couple days later and Candlehead was still thinking about those visions. She'd had a few more flashes, though they mercifully hadn't impeded her racing ability. Minty still bugged her a bit about what had caused her crash but for the most part, things had returned to normal. Except for well, you know, the visions.

Candlehead really hoped she wasn't starting to glitch. She was pretty sure she wasn't, but one could never be too sure. That was why she was currently sitting high up in the Vanilla Cream Crossing.

The Vanilla Cream Crossing was a bunch of mountains made with . . . well what else, Vanilla Ice Cream. A racetrack, of course, went through it but that wasn't what had drawn Candlehead here. The crisp and clear air seemed to help her think. Up here she could see a lot of Sugar Rush and if she wanted she could also turn so she didn't have to see it either. She sat down on a high rise and took off her helmet.

The helmet had often been a source of teasing. Teasing that Candlehead was more than happy to go along with. There wasn't any real malice to most of it, most people just didn't understand. They thought that the candle helmet and how important it was to her was just part of her gimmick as a character. Maybe in the beginning it was, but not anymore.

She set the helmet down and then lay down on her stomach and elbows to look into the small flame. It was very calming to just sit and look it. So fragile and yet so beautiful, there was just something about it that made Candlehead just happy to exist.

"What you doing?!"

Candlehead was jolted out of her reverie by the loud question coming from behind her. She quickly snatched her helmet and put it back on her head as she turned to face the voice.

Vanellope was leaning against the mountain and looked like she was trying to hold in laughter.

Candlehead frowned "why did you follow me here?"

Vanellope rolled her eyes "I didn't follow you, I live around here."

"Really, where."

Vanellope just gave Candlehead a look.

"Right, not telling me."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Finally Vanellope broke it by asking a question.

"So what were you doing just then?"

Candlehead stared at the ground, there was no way she was going to tell the glitch of all people what she considered her most personal habit.

"Nothing."

"Uh huh" it was clear Vanellope didn't believe her.

"Look, why do you care? And while we're on the subject, why are you even talking to me? I hope you don't think that this makes us friends!"

Vanellope snorted "yeah right. Don't worry your little candle encrusted head about that one. I don't think any of you guys would be friends with me if I even was a racer."

That sentence shouldn't have affected Candlehead at all. Heck, she should've agreed wholeheartedly. But that picture of Vanellope in her racecar that she'd gotten along with the visions that sometimes invaded her mind made her hesitate.

"Uh, Earth to Candlehead. You sure that candle isn't roasting what little brains you do have in there?"

"Hey! Listen here glitch. I may not have the cutest accessories but at least I am a racer! Furthermore, what gives you the right to even be up here?"

Vanellope smirked "last I checked the only rule was that I couldn't race or be near the racecar factory."

Candlehead opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, and then closed it once more, at a loss of how to respond to that.

Vanellope walked to the edge of the slope they were on.

"I always like it up here. I really like how your voice can" she took a deep breath and then shouted "ECHO!"

Candlehead heard the voice echoing around, but then she heard another thing. A rumbling noise began and she glanced around. Then she spied that, up above both of them, a huge bank of frozen ice cream had come loose and was starting to shift down the mountain.

Candlehead began to feel nervousness clutch her chest. Her racecar was parked way down the mountain. In a fit of anger she turned on Vanellope "why'd you do that!" she barked. "Now we're both going to have to dig ourselves out of a mountain of ice cream!"

A coy smile played on Vanellope's lips as she drew two things out of the Ice Cream at their feet. They looked to be snowboards made of frosted flakes.

"Not necessarily. We still might make it. But I bet I could get to the bottom, hike back up, and then ride back down again before you were even halfway!"

Candlehead just snatched one of the boards and said rather hurriedly "right, like I'd ever race with a glitch."

"Well then, I guess this glitch is going to beat you to the bottom, because she's going to have such and easy time."

With that Vanellope took her board and leapt off the slope, landing on it and beginning to slide down the mountain.

Candlehead wasn't one to usually take challenges seriously, but she'd drink herself senseless at Tapsters before she lost to a glitch at anything, especially a race, so she grabbed her board and leapt off the slope as well.

The pile of falling Ice Cream advanced as the two girls slid down the slopes. Vanellope made faces at Candlehead as the racer drew level with the glitch. Candlehead responded by angling her board so that Vanellope was sprayed with a bunch of Cream. Then the racer pulled ahead, laughing as she thought that the glitch surely had crashed because of her little stunt.

"You're going to have to try harder."

Vanellope and her board glitched in ahead of the Candlehead and the racer bared her teeth, unconsciously accepting the challenge. Both contestants in their little race continued down the mountain as the wall of Ice Cream advanced on them. Candlehead scooped up some Ice Cream to form its equivalent of a snowball. She chucked it at Vanellope who ducked.

"Sloppy, very sloppy."

Candlehead, suprisingly not annoyed, grinned and gathered up some more Ice Cream for throwing.

Vanellope briefly moved out of sight and suddenly flew off a short cliff that served as a jump point in this case. She flew straight over Candlehead's head; the racer could swear that the flame of her candle was touching Vanellope's board. Then she landed right in front of Candlehead, their boards very close to one anothers.

Too close.

The back of Vanellope's board hit the front of the Candlehead's and the racer was catapulted forward right onto Vanellope's board. She slid on it, knocking Vanellope down by her legs. Both girls struggled to their knees and when they looked up, both their eyes widened.

The wall of Ice Cream was now only about 40 feet away and gaining fast. Neither of the two fancied digging themselves out of several tons of frozen Vanilla Ice Cream so they scrambled to their feet.

Any and all animosity forgotten for the moment, they both balanced and began steering the Frosted Flake Board so as to maximize speed. They whizzed past trees and rocks, gaining speed as they went.

Then, right up in front of them a giant chasm appeared.

"Go right!" Vanellope yelled.

"Go left!" Candlehead yelled.

Both tried to turn the board their respective ways but the result was that it didn't turn at all.

It also had the result of the front end catching on a rock and then catapulting up and forward.

Both girls yelled and screamed as they sailed through the air until finally, they landed, just missing falling into the giant chasm.

Both were stunned for a moment, then they both sat up, spitting out Ice Cream as they did. Both looked and saw that they weren't in any danger of being buried in the avalanche anymore. It was currently depositing itself into the chasm.

Both of them looked at each other. Then Candlehead began to giggle. Vanellope began to giggle as well. Both couldn't stop until they were splayed out on the ground, neither able to quell the raucous laughter bubbling up inside them.

"_Huh, I actually had fun"_ Candlehead thought, and for some reason, interacting with Vanellope didn't seem quite so bad anymore.


	4. New Discovery

**At this point, Vanellope hasn't discovered her hideout we saw in the film yet. She uses several other hidey holes hidden around Sugar Rush.**

**If you feel that I'm doing something wrong, such as going too fast, or being unrealistic with my characterizations. Please tell me and explain why. **

XXX

"_Say guys. What if I wasn't a princess, what if I was just a normal racer? Would you guys still like me?"_

"_What kind of question is that Vanellope? Why would you even think of a question like that?"_

"_It just occurred to me. What if I wasn't anyone special? Would you guys still like me? If I wasn't your leader or anything and held no real significance?"_

_ Candlehead rolled her eyes as Taffyta responded "come on Vanellope. You're too sweet for any one of us to hate you. Why would we hate you, we'd have no reason to."_

_ Vanellope still looked troubled so Candlehead stepped in "Vanellope, think. You're the best racer of us all. You're the boss of this game and it's going to always be that way. We don't want any other leader; nobody is as sweet a racer as you. If you somehow got dumbed down to just being a normal person, then we'd still like you. Why wouldn't we? You are, and always will be, our leader, our best friend, and the best racer this arcade has ever seen."_

_ Vanellope smiled appreciatively at her two best friends._

"_Thanks guys."_

XXX

Candlehead snapped out of the vision. She could barely make out any of it, something about her, Taffyta, and Vanellope. That was all she could remember.

Strangely enough, she felt like she was starting to acclimate to these visions. They were just as confusing as ever, but she was no longer afraid of them really. Most of the time they were too confused and muddled for her to get any information out of, like the one she'd had just now for instance.

The races continued on as usual. It was about a week since she'd met Vanellope at Vanilla Cream Crossing. Since then, life had gone on as usual. None of the racers had seen anything of Vanellope and they speculated that she was lying low, or maybe just planning some elaborate scheme.

Candlehead wasn't sure if she wanted to see the glitch again. Sure she'd had some fun Ice Creamboarding down the Ice Cream Mountain, but certain things plagued her. First off was what would happen if she somehow for whatever reason began hanging out with Vanellope on a regular basis and word got back to the other racers. She'd be kicked out of the group faster than you could say "candy cane." Not to mention she had no idea how her best friends would react. Taffyta, Candlehead severely doubted she would be willing to forgive what she practically considered the ultimate form of betrayal.

But, something about these new visions and random feelings of respect kept her thoughts coming back to Vanellope. There was just some sort of unsolved mystery about her.

As she was leaning up against her car after a race, thinking about what this could all mean, she didn't see someone approaching her.

She jumped at the voice that spoke to her. Then she mentally berated herself for jumping every time someone talked to her unexpectedly.

"Hello Candlehead."

"Uh, hello Sour Bill."

Sour Bill studied her up and down, as if he was searching for something. Candlehead felt slightly uncomfortable and broke the silence with a question.

"So, does King Candy need me or something?"

"No, I just heard about your crash about a week ago and I was wondering if you had rested yourself back to full potential."

"Uh, I'm fine thanks. It was just a one-time rookie mistake."

"Yeah, it was really weird to hear that you just crashed like that."

Candlehead flushed in embarrassment, how she longed to say that it wasn't her fault, that it was all the vision's fault. But she couldn't.

"By the way" Sour Bill continued "just remember to explore a lot. Things aren't often what they look like."

With that, he walked away. Candlehead watched him leave with a perplexed look on her face.

"_Things often aren't what they-" what the heck was he talking about!?"_ she thought.

She decided to take another drive.

XXX

In retrospect, Candlehead really shouldn't have been surprised for running into Vanellope again.

What was a surprise was when the glitch, well, _glitched_ right onto the front of her racecar just as she was passing around Diet Cola Mountain. By the look on Vanellope's face, it was completely accidental. This however, did nothing to prevent her from obstructing Candlehead's view of anything in front of her car.

As a result, she had no idea where she was going.

"Agh! Get off my car!"

"You stop!"

"You first!"

"You first!"

Then Vanellope glitched again and suddenly she was holding onto the back of the racecar. Candlehead looked back, but Vanellope looked forward and when she did, her eyes bugged out. Candlehead turned back to see what was the matter, but then her eyes bugged out too.

She was driving right into the side of Diet Cola Mountain. She didn't even have time to yell as she drove straight into the wall.

Except that instead of totaling her racecar (again) they passed through it as if it wasn't there. They found themselves in some sort of tunnel that wound off into the mountain.

On instinct, Candlehead's foot slammed on the brake and Vanellope was flung on the ground in front of her car. Vanellope coughed and got to her knees while dusting herself off. Candlehead leapt out of the cart and strode over the Vanellope.

"What was that for!?"

Vanellope held up her hands in a placating gesture "look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to glitch into your car. I just saw you driving by and it happened before I could stop it."

Candlehead crossed her arms, and then she looked around at the small cave they were in. Once Vanellope had gotten to her feet she looked around too.

"Say, I wonder where we are?" Vanellope said to nobody in particular. Then, without waiting for Candlehead to respond, she took off down the tunnel.

After a few moments hesitation Candlehead sighed and followed muttering something about crazy glitches and how she must be catching the craziness too. Finally, they turned a corner and Candlehead's eyes widened as she beheld a large cavern.

In the middle was a small lake of Diet Cola. It was sizzling and gave off heat, keeping the cavern at a comfortably warm temperature. Above it, hanging from the ceiling was a bunch of stalactites in the form of mentos. Another interesting feature of the cavern was what looked like unfinished parts to a track. A ramp lead up and over the small lake of Cola and finished on the other side, but in the middle was nothing.

Candlehead noticed Vanellope picking something up, and then she threw it. The small thing hit the lowest piece of mentos and it dropped.

Not even Candlehead was expecting as big an explosion as the one that the mentos hitting the Cola caused. Both girls skipped out of the way as the bubbling liquid splashed all around them.

Candlehead facepalmed "should I even ask why you did that?"

"Vanellope grinned "simple, it was fun. You should try it sometime."

Vanellope spread her hands in a position to make it seem like she was framing the cave.

"You know, with some work, this place isn't half bad."

Candlehead suddenly noticed just how much time had passed. She'd promised to have a small race with Taffyta and Minty Zaki.

"Oh man, I have to get back to the track!"

She was about to run back to her car when Vanellope caught her hand. Candlehead yanked her hand out of the glitch's grip out of habit.

Disregarding this, Vanellope asked "you'll come back here right? We still need to set up everything we need to make this a neat little hidey hole. You won't tell anyone about it?"

Without thinking, Candlehead responded "yeah sure, whatever." Then she noticed that she'd just promised to come back to spend time with the glitch. Vanellope was looking excited as she skipped around the cavern, measuring everything.

Candlehead shook her head; she'd deal with it after her next race.

XXX

**The flashback in the beginning was clear for your (the reader's) benefit. To Candlehead, it was a muddled and jumbled mess. **

**Also, Sour Bill wasn't referring to Diet Cola Mountain's hidden entrance. He has no idea that that's there.**


	5. Terms of Friendship

**This is pretty short, I just really wanted to type something for this tonight.**

XXX

Candlehead walked into the secret tunnel into Diet Cola Mt. After a long time of thinking she'd finally come up with a plan for dealing with the glitch. As she got to the large cavern she noticed that Vanellope had already set up shop. A small bed with some candy wrapper blankets was set up and the glitch was in the process of setting up some shelves with various junky knick knacks.

She stopped as soon as she saw Candlehead and smiled. Candlehead did not reciprocate.

Before Vanellope could start talking Candlehead beat her to it.

"Alright glitch, I've decided that if you want me to keep interacting with you, then there are going to have to be some rules."

Vanellope smirked "you're making it sound like your doing me a huge favor." She joked.

Candlehead glared, and then continued.

"Rule number 1, I'm not going to help you make a car or do anything that'll help you get into a race."

The smile didn't leave Vanellope's face, but something in her eyes seemed to droop.

"Rule number 2, nobody can find out about this. If any of the other racers find out about this I'll- . . . I'll- . . . uh?"

"Run your car over me?" Vanellope offered.

"Run my car over you! Of course."

"No, it's I'll let you run the car over me." Vanellope corrected.

"Oh fine! I'll let you run the car over me." Candlehead said without thinking.

Vanellope collapsed to the ground, clutching her gut as she laughed. Candlehead was confused for a moment, and then she realized what she'd just said. The ghost of a smirk came over her face that soon grew into a full smile.

Vanellope eventually calmed down enough to be able to stand and looked at Candlehead.

"Well, do you agree?" Candlhead asked, once more in a very businesslike manner.

Vanellope mock saluted "javoy mon capitan. C'mon, lighten up Heady. Sure I'll agree.

Both girls shook on it. Then Candlehead felt herself getting tugged by her sleeve over to the shelves Vanellope had been setting up.

"Now c'mon over and see. I found this little thing in the dump. And this weird shaped Candy Cane, that was in the forest. And also . . ."

As Vanellope kept speaking Candlehead noticed that a lot of the stuff that Vanellope considered really valuable was tuff she could get really easily. To see her gush over such simple things was really weird.

But also . . . slightly endearing.


End file.
